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Freeman Razemba Senior Reporter
Significant progress has been recorded in road rehabilitation, with 387km of the Harare-Beitbridge highway now complete and opened to traffic.
The rehabilitation of roads under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme 2 (ERRP2) not only focused on arterial highways, but also those in suburbs that were abandoned by opposition-run councils over for years.
The Harare-Beitbridge highway is the centrepiece of the roads programme and will be matched by the Chirundu-Harare highway.
Five local companies were contracted to upgrade the Harare-Beitbridge Road and these are Tensor Systems, Masimba Holdings, Fossil Contracting, Exodus & Company and Bitumen World.
The project involves the dualisation, upgrading and tolling of the highway.
The road project will be divided into three sections namely; Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge (570km with eight toll plazas), Harare-Chirundu (342km with six toll plazas), and the Harare Ring Road (59km with three toll plazas). Toll plazas will provide a revenue stream for maintenance and rehabilitation of the roads network.
Posting on its Twitter handle on Wednesday, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development said 387km of the Harare-Beitbridge highway have now been opened to traffic.
Similarly, the reconstruction of the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road near Masuwe River Bridge has commenced while 5km have also been opened to traffic on the Bulawayo-Tsholotsho Road and now waiting for road markings.
A dual carriageway stretch from Masvingo City to an area near Gokomere Mission, was also opened to traffic this week.
In Matabeleland South province, priming is in progress on the Guyu-Manama Road in Gwanda District, while construction of the Rwenya River Bridge in Mashonaland East Province is almost complete.
There are only two spans left on the Rwenya River Bridge construction.
The bridge was extensively damaged by Cyclone Eline in 2013.
Located about 43km south of Nyamapanda Border Post towards Nyanga, the Rwenya River Bridge is a key link between Mashonaland East and Manicaland and its repair will ensure decent communication along the Mozambican border.
The Rwenya Bridge is along the Nyamapanda-Rwenya Road, popularly known as Bhinya Road, along the border.
In Harare, asphalt overlay was recently done along Kirkman Road while reconstruction of the Gairezi Bridge in Nyanga District, Manicaland Province, which was damaged by heavy floods in January, is on course.
Over 2 000km of roads have been re-gravelled, while 6 627,9km have been graded, with 701 drainage structures constructed or repaired, and 184 wash-aways reclaimed.
Across the country, 4 491,5km of drains have been opened while 6 141,2km of verges have been cleared.
Progress continues to be made on the patching of potholes, with 4 794,8km having been attended to.
Online Reporter